The amount of bidders in the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership saga was recently cut to three, setting up a showdown that is set to be resolved on April 1st.

The three finalists: a group led by hedge-fund billionaire Steven Cohen and Los Angeles billionaire and philanthropist Patrick Soon-Shiong; a group led by Magic Johnson and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten; and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

The parties eliminated: a partnership between Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley and Los Angeles investor Tony Ressler; and a bid by Stanley Gold and the family of the late Roy Disney.

Major league owners are set to vote on the three remaining bidders early next week. Final negotiations will then take place with McCourt and Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank brokering the sale.

So what was that? Three days after they were reinstated in the bidding, the two groups were eliminated yet again.

Of course, that news doesn’t change much, as now we’re left with the same trio everybody pegged as favorites long ago, but the owners voting on candidates could reveal a lot about how the potential groups are viewed.

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While the fact that this mess is finally coming to a close is a relief to almost every observer, Major League Baseball, Fox Sports, and Jamie McCourt aren’t so thrilled with the way things are going.

With the sale of the Dodgers in its final stages, three key parties lodged objections Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Major League Baseball, Fox Sports and Jamie McCourt each raised concerns that they asked the court to consider on or before April 13, the day of the scheduled hearing to approve the Dodgers’ sale. The concerns appear unlikely to derail the sale.

Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ outgoing owner, has agreed to provide the court with a sale agreement by April 6.

In its filing, MLB claimed that the Dodgers used overly broad and legally inconsistent language in phrasing how the league and the team would release each other from future liability.

Fox Sports, which waged a successful legal battle to prevent Frank McCourt from marketing the Dodgers’ television rights as part of the sale, asserted the right to review the sale documents through April 28.

Jamie McCourt, the ex-wife of Frank McCourt, asked for assurances that the $131 million she is owed in a divorce settlement would be promptly disbursed from the sale proceeds. The Dodgers on Thursday asked the court to dismiss Jamie McCourt’s bankruptcy claim, saying she would be paid not by the Dodgers but by Frank McCourt personally.

As long as it doesn’t affect the sale, they could take every penny from Frank McCourt and I couldn’t care less.

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Joe Torre got his job back from Bud Selig after his failed attempt at buying the team.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig restored Torre as executive vice president of baseball operations, the position Torre vacated Jan. 4 to join Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso in bidding for the Dodgers.

As long as he’s away from the Dodgers.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported earlier today that the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership sweepstakes is down to seven contestants.

I would have wrote about this earlier but napping was of greater importance.

Of the nine parties still in contention last week, the two eliminated Monday were Michael Heisley, owner of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies; and Tony Ressler, a minority investor in the Milwaukee Brewers and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Ares Management.

The remaining bidders include groups led by Johnson and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten; Connecticut investment king Steven Cohen and longtime Los Angeles agent Arn Tellem; Stanley Gold and the family of the late Roy Disney; and New York media executive Leo Hindery in partnership with Tom Barrack, chairman of Santa Monica-based Colony Capital.

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, Beverly Hills-based real estate developer Alan Casden and Jared Kushner, owner and publisher of the New York Observer and son-in-law of Donald Trump, also remain in contention.

I honestly don’t care much about the two eliminated, maybe I would if I had any time to get an impression of them, but I didn’t.

It does worry me though that out of the seven groups there are three I don’t want (Steven Cohen/Jared Kushner/Stan Kroenke), three I don’t care about (Stanley Gold/Leo Hindery/Alan Casden), and one I want (Magic Johnson).

The remaining bidders proceed to a multilayered review by Major League Baseball, including consideration by two committees of owners. Each bidder then will be subject to a vote of all owners, with three-fourths approval required.

While we can hope that they eliminate the owners who allow Frank McCourt to keep the parking lots, it won’t happen, since it was Bud Selig who agreed to allow him to negotiate those terms to begin with.

Honestly though, how many Dodgers fans are going to be happy if the new owner starts off his era by letting McCourt keep the parking lots?

Not understanding why one would drop so much money on a franchise and get off to a bad start with the fans.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers in the news for the impending bidding war over the ownership of the team, I thought this would be as appropriate a time as ever to run through the publicly declared bidders, as the deadline for submission has come and gone.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times breaks down the specifics of the bidding process in nice and tidy parts.

If McCourt has the final say on the new owner, what role does Major League Baseball play in the process?

MLB has agreed to approve up to 10 bidders. Yet Blackstone is unlikely to clear even that many bidders for MLB consideration, given the time needed for the league to investigate the structure and financing of each potential ownership group. To cover the costs of the investigation, MLB will charge $25,000 to each bidder cleared by Blackstone.

If MLB rejects a prospective bidder cleared by Blackstone, does McCourt have any recourse?

Yes. He can appeal to the mediator who brokered his settlement with MLB.

Do the other MLB owners have a say?

Yes. They can approve or reject any bidder that passes the MLB investigation. However, once the league informs Blackstone of which prospective buyers have been approved by MLB owners, McCourt conducts the final round of bidding and determines the winner. If the winning bidder’s final offer is dramatically higher than the initial offer, MLB reserves the right to review the financing.

When will this happen?

There is no set date, but the calendar suggests the end of March. McCourt has agreed to select the winning bidder by April 1 and disclose the winner to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court by April 6.

Outstanding stuff, as always.

Regarding the bidders themselves though, who are the groups and what good or bad traits do they bring to the table?

Let’s find out.

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Mark Cuban

The Good: A charismatic fan favorite of an owner, basically the exact opposite of Frank McCourt. His tenure as the Dallas Mavericks owner has obviously been a successful one, as he turned a joke of a franchise into a perennial contender. While his money has often been cited as the reason for the change, he has proven that he will explore any avenue that could potentially give his franchise an advantage. As such, he is unlikely to be as sabermetrics averse as the current Dodgers front office, as evidenced by his implementation of analytics in basketball to score his first NBA Championship.

The Bad: I’m not convinced he’s that legit of a threat to win. He’s not an idiot and he’s unlikely to go over whatever he has the Dodgers valued at, as he showed in the bidding for the Texas Rangers. While I’m confident he would find quality baseball men to run the franchise, he’s not going into the process with anybody in place.

My Take: I would love for him to be owner, as his history suggests he would make winning a priority and would explore the most efficient ways to do so. Unfortunately, I think it’s a long shot.

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Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten/Mark Walters

The Good: Magic Johnson instantly becomes the face of the ownership and it should go over extremely well with fans. Stan Kasten employs his experience with the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals to run the baseball operations. Mark Walters could use his eleventy trillion dollars to supplement the payroll and buy elite players. Seriously, Guggenheim Partners has over $100 billion in assets and he’s the CEO.

The Bad: Uh…none?

My Take: My current preference to win the bidding. I can’t see a better combination.

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Steven Cohen/Steve Greenberg/Arn Tellem

The Good: Founder of SAC Capital Advisors and a hedge fund manager, Steven Cohen is worth over $8 billion. The group’s baseball experience will come from Steve Greenberg, who served as a deputy commissioner of baseball, and Arn Tellem, who is a player agent for the Wasserman Media Group. Get to use puns on Arn Tellem’s name.

The Bad: In today’s political environment, it’s not exactly ideal in the public relations department to have a hedge fund manager as an owner, and especially not one whose company is under investigation by the SEC. Went through an ugly divorce that led to lawsuits. Sound familiar?

My Take: Do. Not. Want. I don’t want to deal with yet another owner with baggage. Haven’t Bud Selig and the other owners learned their lesson yet? Yes, other ownership groups could have drama, but this one has already been confirmed to have been involved in messes before, so why bother? My fear is that the Blackstone Group, which is in control of the sale, is a significant investor in SAC Capital Advisors, and that could give the latter a gigantic advantage.

—–

Rick Caruso/Joe Torre/Byron Trott

The Good: Joe Torre becomes the face of the franchise and has a ton of baseball experience. Despite his tenure with the Dodgers, I get the feeling that fans love him, and given that he just left a position with the MLB, he and Bud Selig should have a solid working relationship. Byron Trott, named by Warren Buffett as the only banker he trusts, heads BDT Capital Partners and was previously the vice chairman for Goldman Sachs. I would have the same concerns with him as I do with Steven Cohen, but he has no legal issues with his comapny and Buffett’s word carries weight. Rick Caruso is a local developer who is worth around $1.7 billion and has tons of local popularity.

The Bad: Honestly? Torre as the baseball man frightens me. A lot. He’s not progressive with his thinking at all and he never seemed to have a problem with Ned Colletti, leading me to believe he just might keep him around. Disastrous.

My Take: I don’t necessarily have a problem with the group, but the risk that Torre could regress the Dodgers to decades old thinking and retain Colletti is too much for me to bear. Out.

—–

Dennis Gilbert/Larry King/Jason Reese/Randy Wooster

The Good: Both Larry King and Dennis Gilbert are Dodgers fans, which is always a plus. King’s name carries weight, though I’m not sure he has any name value as a sports personality. Gilbert has extensive baseball experience as a former player agent, former player, and current special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Chicago White Sox. Jason Reese and Randy Wooster are Chairman/CEO and President of Imperial Capital, a Los Angeles area investment bank, and the two will be providing the financial thump in the group.

The Bad: Not much public motivation, honestly. No idea if they actually have the money to compete.

My Take: If they have the money to spend competitively, then I have no issue with the group, but as of now, that’s a big unknown. There are rumors that they might have to hook up with Fox or Time Warner to get the finances to work. Ugh.

—–

Leo Hindery/Marc Utay

The Good: Leo Hindery is a Managing Partner at private equity fund InterMedia Partners, and he founded the YES Network for the New York Yankees and served as Chairman & CEO until 2004. Marc Utay is a Managing Partner at private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners. The pair of them tried to buy the Chicago Cubs back in 2009, so there’s a history there.

The Bad: They’ve been under the radar, and as a result not much has been revealed as to their finances or plans, so the biggest downside right now is the uncertainty.

My Take: Hard to judge what you know little about, so I can’t provide much positive or negative feedback until more is revealed.

—–

Steve Garvey/Orel Hershiser

The Good: Their resume in baseball speaks for itself, though little is known about their actual qualifications as executives. They certainly figure to have local support and can become the faces of the franchise.

The Bad: They don’t seem to have funding. Last time they spoke on the Dodgers, they were still looking for investors and it’s unknown who they found.

My Take: Not enough information to endorse two former players with unknown finances and unknown executive experience.

—–

Josh Macciello

The Good: He’s not a hedge fund manager or a banker or an executive, he’s a regular guy like you or me. He’s the CEO of ArmItal Sports and plans to use the gold mines he owns, which are valued in the tens of billions, as collateral for the purchase, so he says he has the financial backing.

The Bad: He’s a regular guy like you or me. The lack of baseball connections, the lack of executive experience, the lack of community support, and the legitimate questions about whether he would even be taken seriously by the commissioner and fellow owners. All of those are negatives.

My Take: I understand why fans might want to side with him, but I just can’t. It has little to do with his looks or his spelling or whatever else. It has more to do with the lack of experience in everything that I think an owner should be about.

—–

Stan Kroenke

The Good: Stan Kroenke is the largest shareholder in Arsenal F.C., owns the St. Louis Rams, Colorado Mammoth, and Colorado Rapids, and he formerly owned the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Crush, all of which he transferred to his son to comply with NFL ownership rules. Needless to say, he has experience with this sort of thing and his teams have generally performed well under his tenure in charge.

The Bad: Perhaps his money will be spread a bit thin and I’m wondering if this has more to do with trying to move the Rams to Los Angeles than actually caring about the Dodgers. No idea about the baseball side of things.

My Take: I’m okay with this in theory, but I’m going to hold off on endorsing the move until more is revealed. We know a lot about him as an owner, but not a lot about his interest in the Dodgers.

—–

Potential Mergers And/Or Group Joiners

Peter O’Malley: Submitted an ownership bid himself, but has been rumored to be in discussions to link up with the bid of Stanley Gold & Roy Disney’s Family and/or Tony Ressler. A throwback to the good old days of Dodgers family ownership, but it’s probably not gonna help that he was talking about how terrible McCourt was as an owner considering McCourt will hold the ultimate decision.

Stanley Gold/Roy Disney’s Family: Submitted an ownership bid as their own group, but have been rumored to be linking up with Peter O’Malley and/or Tony Ressler. Gold is the President & CEO of Shamrock Holdings and has local popularity, but his financial clout is not known. Not much is known about what Roy Disney’s Family brings to the table either, I assume it’s money but nobody knows. Group is short on baseball experience.

Tony Ressler: Rumored to be linking up with either Stanley Gold & Roy Disney’s Family or Peter O’Malley or either or both. Co-founder of local investment firm Ares Capital, which has in excess of $40 billion in assets.

Tom Barrack: Chairman & CEO of investment firm Colony Capital has a net worth over $1 billion. Has been rumored to join several groups, but no specifics have popped up yet.

Fox: Seriously? No. Please no.

Time Warner Cable: They haven’t actually done anything wrong, but why get involved in this type of ownership situation again? Fool me once…

—–

Rumored Bidders

Alan Casden: A real estate developer worth over $1 billion, he might have more interest in the property the Dodgers own more than the team itself, which is disconcerting. Remember, this is the guy who tried to buy the team last time around and had plans to move Dodger Stadium to a different location. MLB didn’t want him last time because of an investigation into illegal campaign contributions to local politicians. Why deal with the headache?

Ron Burkle: Worth over $3 billion dollars, he is the current co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. While no baseball people are rumored to be on board yet, he seems to carry a lot of weight locally. Divorce was…uh…messy.

Fred Claire/Andy Dolich/Ben Hwang: Fred Claire has experience as an executive with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Andy Dolich has experience as an executive with the Oakland Athletics. Ben Hwang, former executive at Life Technologies, will provide the finances for the group. The question mark revolves around money and whether they have enough of it.

Tom Golisano: Founder of Paychex is worth $1.4 billion and is the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres. Was preparing a bid, but it’s unknown whether he followed through or not. Worth noting is that Sabres fans criticized his lack of spending, and he’s on record as saying that the biggest payroll doesn’t lead to championships, which is correct in theory, but seems like code for not wanting to spend much.

MLB and the MLBPA recently agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that will ensure labor peace through 2016. In light of the recent troubles of the NBA and NFL, this seems like a welcome change of pace. However, with this CBA comes a lot of changes to the MLB, and I don’t think all of them are positive.

So while both the MLB and the MLBPA tout to everybody how proud they are of themselves for avoiding a labor dispute, everybody from the mainstream media to the basement bloggers seem to be in agreement that there is significant reason to worry about what has just transpired.

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Draft

2. The current system of draft pick compensation will be replaced with the following
system:

A. Only Players who have been with their Clubs for the entire season will be subject
to compensation.

No more trading for Type A and Type B players with the intent of offering them arbitration and getting compensation picks when they hit free agency.

I always thought these types of moves awarded the intelligent and creative GMs, so this is a definite loss in my mind.

B. A free agent will be subject to compensation if his former Club offers him a
guaranteed one-year contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the
125-highest paid Players from the prior season. The offer must be made at the
end of the five-day free agent “quiet period,” and the Player will have seven days
to accept the offer.

Draft pick compensation is no longer associated with performance at all, which is a welcome switch given the stupidity of how players attained their Type A and Type B designations.

Basically, draft pick compensation is now determined by how much his current/former team wants him back. I like it.

C. A Club that signs a player subject to compensation will forfeit its first round
selection, unless it selects in the top 10, in which case it will forfeit its second highest
selection in the draft.

D. The Player’s former Club will receive a selection at the end of the first round
beginning after the last regularly scheduled selection in the round. The former
Clubs will select based on reverse order of winning percentage from the prior
championship season.

If I’m understanding this correctly, the team that signs a compensation player pays a higher price than the team losing the compensation player receives. Quite frankly, I don’t agree with the subtle message this is sending to teams. Basically that the MLB prefers that you let marquee free agents go over signing them to improve your club.

e. Rule 4 Draft

1. The draft will continue to be conducted in June, but the signing deadline will be moved
to a date between July 12 and July 18 depending on the date of the All-Star Game.

Love the deadline switch, because now drafted players can get into their team’s system earlier and actually play ball.

2. Drafted players may only sign Minor League contracts.

There has been a lot of complaining about only being able to sign minor league contracts, but I have personally never understood the incentive to sign these contracts from both the team and player’s perspectives. For the team, it occupies a 40-man roster spot for a relatively unknown talent. For the player, the team rushing them to the major leagues because they are taking up a 40-man roster spot is a detriment to their overall development.

3. Signing Bonus Pools

A. Each Club will be assigned an aggregate Signing Bonus Pool prior to each draft.
For the purpose of calculating the Signing Bonus Pools, each pick in the first 10
rounds of the draft has been assigned a value. (These values will grow each year
with the rate of growth of industry revenue.) A Club’s Signing Bonus Pool equals
the sum of the values of that Club’s selections in the first 10 rounds of the draft.
Players selected after the 10th round do not count against a Club’s Signing
Bonus Pool if they receive bonuses up to $100,000. Any amounts paid in excess
of $100,000 will count against the Pool.

B. Clubs that exceed their Signing Bonus Pools will be subject to penalties as
follows:
Excess of Pool Penalty (Tax on Overage/Draft Picks)
• 0-5% 75% tax on overage
• 5-10% 75% tax on overage and loss of 1st round pick
• 10-15% 100% tax on overage and loss of 1st and 2nd round picks
• 15%+ 100% tax on overage and loss of 1st round picks in next two drafts

Up until now, nothing has been too bad, but this is one of the major changes that makes me dislike the new CBA.

Capping draft spending ends the financial incentive for many two sport talents and high school talents to take baseball up as a profession. I just find it depressing for the sport as a whole because the financial advantage was the biggest advantage that baseball had to lure talented athletes with multiple options into the sport.

The current excuse for this going around the internet is that there aren’t an exorbitant amount of two or three sport athletes in every draft class, so this will affect a clear minority. Even assuming that’s true, which it seems to be, the thought of losing even one Matt Kemp or one Zach Lee (for purely Dodgers related connections) is too much for me.

Of course, that doesn’t even address the high school talents who are now increasingly likely to opt for college baseball over starting their professional career early. Now there’s little doubt that this CBA is wonderful for college baseball and the NCAA, but I honestly have absolutely no interest in providing more talented indentured servants to the NCAA overlords so that they can make increasingly more money off the backs of those players. As you might expect, that aspect is a huge negative for me as well.

—

On the bright side, there are rumors that the draft cap will be set anywhere from $4 million to $11 million depending on team market size and team performance, so there’s potential for this to not be disastrous. However, I believe the concept behind capping draft spending is a significant loss for the MLB, not to mention the amateur athletes who are the ones that truly get the shaft.

5. Competitive Balance Lottery

A. For the first time, Clubs with the lowest revenues and in the smallest markets will
have an opportunity to obtain additional draft picks through a lottery.

B. The ten Clubs with the lowest revenues, and the ten Clubs in the smallest
markets, will be entered into a lottery for the six draft selections immediately
following the completion of the first round of the draft. A Club’s odds of winning
the lottery will be based on its prior season’s winning percentage.

C. The eligible Clubs that did not receive one of the six selections after the first
round, and all other payee Clubs under the Revenue Sharing Plan, will be
entered into a second lottery for the six picks immediately following the
completion of the second round of the draft. A Club’s odds of winning the
lottery will be based on its prior season’s winning percentage.

In theory, this is supposed to be a good thing because it gives extra picks to poorer teams. Like baseball welfare. However, with the new draft spending rules, I have to question how much of an impact these extra picks will actually have, if anything significant at all.

Instead of making smaller market teams jump through hoops to improve their squads via the draft, the MLB should have just left everything as it was, because many smaller market clubs had already been realizing that draft spending was one of the best methods to begin with. Now that angle is stripped from those smaller market clubs and the rules trying to force competitive balance ironically only limit the poorer clubs.

D. Picks awarded in the Competitive Balance Lottery may be assigned by a Club,
subject to certain restrictions.

If that means draft pick trading, I’m excited.

E. Top 200 prospects will be subject to a pre-draft drug test and will participate in a
pre-draft medical program.

Basically, the MLB is saying that they care about preventing drug use, but only to the extent that it’s financially viable for them to do so.

So if you suck, feel free to roid up all you want. Not that I expect these tests to catch any of the players with intelligent advisers.

International

f. International Talent Acquisition

1. By December 15, 2011, the parties will form an International Talent Committee to
discuss the development and acquisition of international players, including the potential
inclusion of international amateur players in a draft or in multiple drafts.

2. For the 2012-13 signing season, each Club will be allocated an equal Signing Bonus
Pool.

3. For each signing period after 2012-13, Clubs will be allocated different Signing Bonus
Pools, based on reverse order of winning percentage the prior championship season
(i.e., the Club with the lowest winning percentage the prior season shall receive the
largest Pool).

4. Bonus Regulation of International Amateur Players

A. Beginning in the 2013-2014 signing period (July 2, 2013 – June 15, 2014), Clubs
may trade a portion of their Signing Bonus Pool, subject to certain restrictions.

B. Clubs that exceed their Signing Bonus Pools will be subject to the following
penalties in the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 signing periods:

Excess of Pool Penalty (Tax on Overage/Draft Picks)

• 0-5% 75% tax
• 5-10% 75% tax and loss of right to provide more than one player in the next signing period with a bonus in
excess of $500,000.
• 10-15% 100% tax and loss of right to provide any player in the next signing period with a bonus in excess of
$500,0000.
• 15%+ 100% tax and loss of right to provide any player in the next signing period with a bonus in excess of
$250,000.

I have the same problems here that I have with the draft spending cap, except it’s worse in this case because it could stunt baseball’s growth internationally, thus limiting the potential talent pool.

It’s not that I’m particularly worried about countries like the Dominican Republic and Cuba losing their love for baseball, but I do think it crushes the incentive to play baseball for many developing baseball nations, especially in Europe. Just seems dumb to limit the potential talent pool by taking away financial incentives.

5. All international amateur players must register with the Scouting Bureau to be eligible to
sign, and the top 100 prospects will be subject to a drug test.

Since players must now register centrally to be eligible, it reduces the need for teams to identify players because they must identify themselves. This will probably be a disadvantage for smart teams who want to gain competitive advantages from finding and signing players that lazier teams may not know about.

I suppose the registration itself makes everything about international signings less shady, but I don’t think throwing out the competitive advantage aspect of identifying the player first is worth it.

As far as the drug test goes, the same opinion from the draft drug testing applies.

6. The Office of the Commissioner and the Union will form a joint committee to assist
international players with their transition to educational/vocational programs after their
baseball careers are over.

Good.

Free Agency

III-a-3. Article XX(B) free agents signing minor league contracts who are not added to the Opening Day roster or unconditionally released 5 days prior to Opening Day shall receive an additional $100,000 retention bonus and the right to opt out on June 1.

This could be a double edged sword.

On one hand, it may benefit minor league free agent type players because it’s now cheaper to add them to the 40-man roster instead of just keeping them in AAA. On the other hand, it may hurt those types of players because it reduces the incentive to hand out those contracts, as there are limited spots on the 40-man roster and now it costs quite a bit to have them in the system.

b. Draft Pick Compensation

1. Starting in 2012, “Type A” and “Type B” free agents and the use of the Elias ranking system will be eliminated.

Outstanding. The hilarity of random relief pitchers and utility infielders gifting teams supplemental round draft picks and costing teams first round draft picks was one of the worst parts of the previous CBA. Worse yet, the Type A designations actually cratered interest for those players in certain cases.

Good riddance.

Postseason

a. Beginning no later than the 2013 Postseason, Postseason play will be expanded for the first
time since 1995. A second Wild Card will be awarded to the Club in each league with the
second-best overall record among Clubs that do not win a division. The two Wild Card Clubs
will play a single Postseason game, the winner of which will advance to the Division Series. A
decision on adding two Wild Cards for 2012 will be made no later than March 1, 2012.

I’m not going to get extremely worked up about it, but I do think it cheapens the result of the World Series a little. As it is, baseball is not meant to be played in short series because of the volatile nature of the results, so five game divisional matchups were already pushing the limit for me. Now though, putting in a one game wild card playoff just makes it all the more likely that a less deserving team wins the World Series with an inferior resume.

Arbitration

1. The percentage of players with two years of service who will be arbitration eligible will
be increased from the top 17% to the top 22% in terms of service.

2. All players tied at the 22% cutoff will be eligible for arbitration.

There’s now going to be more Super Two players hitting arbitration, which marginally reduces the value of team controlled players, but nothing significant.

Rosters

d. Active Roster limits will be expanded to 26 for certain regular or split doubleheaders.

Just curious to see what the specific circumstances are that will allow this move. In theory, it appears to be a solid idea though.

Ownership

VI.. DEBT SERVICE RULE

a. The Debt Service Rule will be maintained, but the default EBITDA multiplier has been lowered
from ten to eight, and from fifteen to twelve for Clubs incurring stadium-related debt in the first
ten years of a new or renovated stadium.

b. Debt of a Club’s owner or related party will be covered by the Debt Service Rule if the debt is
serviced, in whole or in part, using Club funds or assets.

c. Debt Service Rule certification process for new ownership has been modified.

The “We Hate You Frank McCourt” rule.

Performance Enhancing Drugs

X.. DRUG PROGRAM
Commencing in Spring Training 2012, all players will be subject to hGH blood testing for reasonable cause at
all times during the year. In addition, during each year, all players will be tested during Spring Training.
Starting with the 2012-2013 off-season, players will be subject to random unannounced testing for hGH. The
parties have also agreed on a process to jointly study the possibility of expanding blood testing to include inseason
collections.

In my opinion, this is nothing more than a move that makes the MLB and the MLBPA look good on paper but basically changes nothing in the realm of performance enhancing drugs except serve as an invasion of privacy of the players.

I’m not going to go over all the studies put out by doctors that say HGH doesn’t do much of anything for performance, but the fact that HGH is basically worthless without AAS makes it all the more apparent that this is purely a cosmetic change.

General

c. Waiting periods for life insurance and disability insurance for active players have been
eliminated.

d. Pension benefits and life insurance benefits for certain classes of retired players and widows
have been improved.

f. Access to health coverage has been improved for international players and their families.

g. Health care benefits have been improved while managed care initiatives have been introduced
to help with costs.

Personally, I’m surprised these weren’t already done.

VIII.. HEALTH AND SAFETY

a. Players, managers, and coaches will be prohibited from using smokeless tobacco during
televised interviews and Club appearances. In addition, at any time when fans are permitted in
the ballpark, players, managers and coaches must conceal tobacco products (including
packages and tins), and may not carry tobacco products in their uniforms or on their bodies.
Individuals who violate the policy will be subject to discipline. The parties also agreed upon an
extensive program of education and public outreach regarding the dangers of smokeless
tobacco.

Basically a “WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?!” move. Meh.

b. The parties agreed on a program of mandatory evaluation by a trained professional for Players
who are suspected of an alcohol use problem (including Players who are arrested for DWI or
other crimes involving alcohol), and for players who are arrested for crimes involving the use of
force or violence.

Sounds good.

c. The parties agreed that no new players will be permitted to use a low density maple bat during
the term of the agreement.

Based on the research I have read, it sounds smart.

d. By 2013, all Major League players will wear a new batting helmet developed by Rawlings that
protects against pitches thrown at 100 miles per hour. The new version of the helmet is
significantly less “bulky” than prior versions of the more protective helmet.

Let’s hope it’s normal looking by then.

a. Participation in the All-Star Game will be required unless the Player is unable to play due to
injury or is otherwise excused by the Office of the Commissioner. Players Trust will receive an
increased contribution and players will receive additional benefits.

“YOU WILL DO MY BIDDING!” – Bud Selig

b. All Players will be subject to a policy governing the use of Social Media.

R.I.P. Logan Morrison

d. The parties will agree upon a comprehensive international play plan in which Clubs and Player
will visit countries in which games have not been staged in the past.

Welcome to the Ivory Coast!

f. Instant Replay will be expanded to include fair/foul and “trapped” ball plays, subject to the
Office of the Commissioner’s discussions with the World Umpires Association.

Can they just expand replay to everything except strikes and balls already? God, if they can do it at the Little League World Series in a few minutes or less, I’m sure a system could be figured out for the MLB.

Everybody is happy with this concession, but it’s still less than it should be given the available technology.

h. The parties agreed to an improved process for challenging official scorer decisions.

Kevin Brown and Brad Penny don’t have to burst into the room screaming anymore.

=====

Phew, that’s all folks.

Classic.

Los Angeles Times: Major League Baseball has now basically told Frank McCourt to get the fuck out.

Major League Baseball on Friday asked a federal bankruptcy judge to order the sale of the Dodgers, arguing in court papers that Frank McCourt’s plan to retain ownership of the team is “dead on arrival.”

Honestly, his entire ownership was.

In a statement, the Dodgers called the filing “meritless” and said MLB had advocated for “an unnecessary and value-destroying distressed sale of the team.”

Would love to have seen the writer’s face while they were typing that up.

The current Fox Sports contract with the Dodgers expires in 2013, and Fox holds exclusive negotiating rights for another 14 months.

…

A sale of TV rights now not only would subject the Dodgers to significant damages in a lawsuit from Fox, the league argued, but could result in MLB discipline, up to and including the team’s suspension or termination from the league.

Termination from the league!

Shit just got real!

In the Dodgers’ case, by announcing its rejection of any television deal before an auction could take place, and by signaling its veto of a plan that McCourt could use to pay all the Dodgers’ creditors in full, Salerno said, the league could be seen as not acting in good faith.

“I think MLB runs a risk that the judge says that’s not reasonable,” Salerno said.

Since a settlement in the case is highly unlikely, Judge Kevin Gross could issue a ruling that stands as precedent for other disputes between owners and leagues.

“This case is clearly going to make law,” Salerno said. “The league is going all in.”

Please, please, please.

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Los Angeles Times: Steve Dilbeck notes that the Dodgers attendance is down over 600,000 fans. Awesome. Seriously.

Dodger Thoughts: Jon Weisman asks why the Matt Kemp triple crown chase went unnoticed for so long.

ESPN: Ned Colletti endorses Matt Kemp for MVP and Clayton Kershaw for Cy Young. Better than last year when he criticized both, I guess.